I found this posted on another Dawg Board and felt compelled to post here. It's excellent and very thought provoking considering that many considered this season to be a 8-3 or 9-2 wash.......
Subject: Let's take a moment for historical perspective...
Posted by: Rabid Dawg on Tue Oct 18 2005 6:52:17 PM
Message:
I've heard folks complain about a lot of different things this year.
We don't win pretty. We don't score in the red zone enough. Our OL
is lacking. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Whether any of you
complainers are smart enough to realize it, we're damn lucky to be
seeing this team.
Let's take a journey back a decade. It's 1995. Instead of coming
off of two years with 21 wins, we were coming off of two years with
11 wins. And how were things two weeks before the Florida game?
Let's see.
We were staggering. After a "significant improvement" mandate,
Goff's team whipped SC, but barely lost to UT. Injuries piled up at
a horrific rate. We got beaten by Ole Miss. Alabama completely
hammered us at home, 0-31. Then we squeaked by Clemson and
Vanderbilt (which was a revenge game that year, no less). We were
playing Kentucky, and couldn't take them for granted.
Where were we in the SEC East? After 3 SEC losses, we were 2-3 in
the conference. Florida was 5-0 in conference, with an off week for
Spurrier to plan to annihilate us in Sanford. Don't kid yourself.
No matter how we did against UK, we all knew we were in for a massive
pounding in two weeks. We also trailed a 4-1 UT team in conference.
And yes, we trailed a 2-2 Kentucky team entering that week. Shoot,
we were out of that race at the beginning of October.
Our injury situation was horrible. Our offense was depleted. Our
defense was depleted. Our coach was clearly on the way out. We
weren't in the top 5... not in the top 25... maybe in the top 45.
The only way we were getting to Atlanta was the Peach Bowl. Georgia
a top 5 team? Media, coaches, players, fans, and worst, recruits
would have laughed at the thought.
And now? We're leading the SEC East by 2 games. We've got the QB
with the best rating in conference. We are in the top 3 in
conference in almost every statistical category on offense, defense,
and special teams. And all of this after losing two first-rounders
and a second-rounder off of the D, a second-round receiver and the
winningest QB in NCAA history on O, and even our defensive
coordinator. We have one of the best coaches in the nation. Our
players and staff have reloaded. No one's laughing now.
Compare the two... and be grateful.
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"My advice to you is to start drinking heavily." - Bluto
